


Enter Stage Right

by Deteriotech (curseofbunny)



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25291345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curseofbunny/pseuds/Deteriotech
Kudos: 3





	Enter Stage Right

The morning sun filters through the room slowly, a breeze coming in from the open window. The air smells crisp with that morning dew- unlike the eventual humidity that would drag it down and make it feel less like air and more like something designed to choke and smother her. If she listens closely, she can hear her neighbor’s dog barking, the woodpecker going to town on the pine, even the soft meow from her pillow.

But…

She groaned as she sat up, still half-hugging the pillow to her chest.

Stella didn’t own a cat.

She studied the animal. A black cat, one notch missing from its ear, curled up playfully.

No collar.

She offered a smile to the cat and picked it up, stepping to the window to deposit it on the windowsill. “Come on, get out of here.”

If cats could roll their eyes, this one would have rolled them hard enough to make himself dizzy. But he hopped into the bush next to her window anyways and she turned, stretching.

Why did this morning feel odd? Her head felt cottony and confused, and she couldn’t remember what had happened the night before or why something felt off.

She headed for her phone, face down on the floor, but it wouldn’t turn on. That wasn’t something she was unused to. Stella was always forgetting to plug the damn thing in.

So why did it feel so important?

She turned on her heel, worrying her bottom lip. Finally, she did spot it. On the clock above her desk, and on the desk itself.

It was 9 am on a thursday.

She was late.

It took ten hectic minutes to get dressed- swapping out her pajama shorts for jeans, throwing shoes and perfume on, then shoving her mass of curls into a loose ponytail- and grab her things in order to head to school. She left the phone charging on her bedside table because really, if it was dead she had no use for it.

That didn’t stop the twist in her gut after she locked the front door and stepped into the front yard. She couldn’t remember what she’d been dreaming about.

Why did it feel important, anyways?

She pressed her lips to the mouth of her water bottle and took a long sip.

Well… it wasn't like she had the time to linger on it.

It was the last week of August, and things were just starting to settle down again at school. No one was fussing over syllabi or getting lost, the administrators were done being too strict on the dress code, and teachers were starting to actually teach. And in her classes, well, she was in senior year. If she had gotten this far without knowing how things went, it would be more of a miracle.

She wrinkled her nose as she came up to the Kinsey road. It had a big pothole in the middle, right where she needed to put her own feet, and she could go around it… but it was more fun to jump across.

She got a head start, then jumped at the last minute. She landed squarely three inches into safety, and smiled to herself.

Nightmares aside, it would be a good day.

Though, a voice in her mind whispered. How did she know it was a nightmare?

She shook her head.

She wasn't going to be thinking about it.

She'd already wasted enough time this morning.

Some kids, when they realized they were late, would just stay home. Or they'd call a car to drive them, or borrow their parent's car, or call their mom to take them.

Some kids just walked to school.

She tilted her face up to the sky as she kept moving, one foot in front of the other. She could tell it would rain soon- despite the pretty sky above her and the lack of foreboding clouds, she just knew.

It was the static in the air, the way the hairs on her arms tingled, the humidity that was starting to attack her hair.

She knew. It'd rain before nightfall.

She shook her head. The rain didn't bother her, she'd been used to it for a long time.

Besides...

Her mom was counting on her to do well. And when mom got home at noon, Stella didn't want to be there, lazing around.

So she hopped over the cracks in the pavement and tried to get that foggy feeling out from between her ears.

Stella hummed. She'd have to do better to keep that stray cat out of her room. No wild animals in her room, that was one of her mother's only rules. And she had to get on top of homework. If she wasn't careful, it'd all pile up. And she had to make lunches for her mother after she got home, along with something for herself to eat. And then there were dishes to be done, and a kitchen to clean, and bird feeders to be filled, and…

And…

And…

Just the thought was making her tired all over again.

But she wouldn't let herself get bogged down. She shook her head again.

It feels like forever to get to school.

Bristol High. Home of the Bristol Bulldogs and their cheer team, the Bristol Bitches. Unofficially titled, but town-renowned regardless.

It was also home to an assortment of other small-town novelties. The anime club, the art club (neither of which were especially exclusive of each other, but met on tuesdays and thursdays respectively), a long suffering football team that weren’t very good at what they did and a cheerleading team that was, and an area-renowned chess club.

Not that she was part of any of the clubs. She didn’t have time for that.

It was late enough by the time she arrived that the cafeteria was full of students- and if she wasn’t mistaken… yep, it was first lunch.

The day was separated into three sections. First two classes, last two classes, and the unfortunate one in the middle that either had a lunch before it or a lunch after it, depending on what the class was. Half the school went before their third period, and the other went after.

Stella had second lunch, but she could tell that it’d be too suspicious to come into the class now. It had probably already started, and being late was worse than missing it.

So she took a deep breath, and leaned on the iron gating next to the cafeteria, offering a smile to the kid sitting closest to her. He knew her pretty well, so he wasn't adverse to leaning back and opening the “Exit-only” door for her to let her slip in, unnoticed.

“Thanks, Paul.” She offered him a fistbump.

She settles into one of the unoccupied tables, bending her head down to focus as she pulls her notebook out and start working on homework. Once again, nothing better to do.

She’s approximately halfway finished when a hand lands on the table in front of her.

Stella’s tense as she looks up, blowing her hair out of her eyes.

“Well now.” Mr. Johnson offered her a grin. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be here, Ms. Onasis.”

Never a good sign.

She’s slapped with a warning and ushered to class, where she receives a tardy. Her cheeks are burning even as she’s holding her notebook closer to her chest and walking to the back.

“Really, Estelle, if you needed a snack that bad, you could have asked.” Her teacher tutted.

She sat in her seat and hid her face in her hands.

There was still time to get better, right?

Fire drill during that class. One of the guys leering at her.

A whole juice bottle getting spilled on her shirt, leaving her pulling the sticky cotton away from herself, pursing her lips in disbelief. Not even an apology, just a wince before the girl walked away.

Getting stuck wearing her gym shirt over her still-drying bra.

Getting called on in her final class.

Getting sent to the principal’s office for ‘talking back’ to her teacher when she didn’t know the answer.

There was six minutes left in the day when Principal Fayed opened her door and let Stella inside.

“So.” The woman patted the chair and settled back into her own, Stella perching across from her.

The damage isn’t hard to see.

Stella rubs at her cheek. She just wants to go home.

“Rough day?” The principal offers tentatively.

“What about this says good day?” She mumbled back.

“Nothing about it.” The older woman nods. She always looks so pretty and put together, in her pantsuits and sleek hijabs. Not like Stella, with her curls a mess, her clothes wrinkled, her shoes worn.

“How about this.” The principal offers a smile. “You work the bakesale table with my daughter, and we call it even?”

Stella blinks in confusion.

“With- with Lizzie?” She confirms. “Lizzie who I don’t talk to. Lizzie who I dated in eighth grade and who you didn’t approve of.”

“I didn’t not approve of you, it was the sneaking into my house and painting on my walls I wasn’t a fan of.” She rolled her eyes. “I always felt bad that you two stopped being friends because of me.”

“It wasn’t because of you.”

“So, you’ll do it?”

Stella looks down at her hands.

Lizzie was nice. She was on the track team, and she was always put together like her mom.

It helped that Stella wouldn’t have any plans then anyways.

She nodded. “Yeah. That sounds… that sounds fine.”

Stella stands up and pulls the strap of her backpack over her shoulder. “Anything else, Ms. Fayed?”

She smiled and shook her head. “Have a nice day. And be safe, okay? You never know what’s on these streets.”

Stella ducked her head and left the office right as the bell went off.

She was still a bit groggy from her late morning, and getting stuck in the gym shirt was embarrassing at best, but she’d be fine. As long as she just crossed the courtyard and escaped-

“Stella?”

Mother fu-

“Hey, what’s new with you?”

She turned on her heel, short fuse already sparking.

Oh.

Nick and Mags.

The pair weren’t standing together. Chances were they’d just happened to be in the same space as her, a million to one. He’s wearing his sweater with the sleeves bunched up around his elbows and a box of books in his arms, they’re in their cheerleading uniform.

Stella hadn’t done much more than see them around in a while. And given her current state, the gym shirt tied up so it wasn’t hanging to her thighs and her hair frizzy, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be seen by them.

“What’s up?” Stella asks through her teeth.

“Got some books to donate, had to leave them in my car til now.” Nick laughed. “My job couldn’t get rid of these fast enough.”

Mags giggled at that. “I mean, one of those is a book about realtor standards. What are we supposed to do about that?”

Stella wasn’t sure why it was funny, but she offered them a smile. “It’s… good to see you.”

Nick nodded. “We missed you, where’ve you been?”

Stella took a half step back. “Just around.”

Mags glanced between them. “Well… around doesn’t have to mean away, right?”

“It’s fine.” Stella shrugged. “You’re busy. It’s fine.”

Mags opened their mouth, then closed it. They looked at Nick for help.

“What if I gave you a ride home? It’s just a few until I get rid of these, and it’s gonna rain soon.” Nick rocked forwards on his heels to look up to the darkening sky that Stella had known was coming earlier.

“You work tonight?” She pulled her second backpack strap up and over her shoulder.

“Yeah, but not til-”

“It’s fine.” Stella pulled her hair out from between her backpack and her back. “I don’t wanna be a bother, I’ll just walk.”

She turns and leaves them looking after her.

It wasn’t their fault that she stopped talking to them either.

Stella spent a while with her head down, just making sure that no one talked to her. It was the last thing on her itinerary, right under ‘apologizing to her teachers’ and ‘going to hell’. She wasn’t interested in it. It was easier to keep track of herself if she was alone.

It was easier to be alone.

And it was easier to pull the joint out her wallet, get her lighter out, and light it up. Breathe it in, blow it out.

Maybe now, with the familiar burn on her tongue, she’d finally calm down.

Breathe it in.

Blow it out.

Stella was just passing Kinsey when she heard it. Just past the treeline was a series of loud crashes and thumps, along with some kind of yowling.

Her mind jumped to the group of boys at school, the ones who wore camouflage and had long weekend hunting trips. It didn’t help that she could spot one of those jacked-up trucks down the street. What if they were torturing some poor animal in the woods?

Stella takes a final drag of her joint, dropping it to the ground and grinding it in. There wasn’t anything but ash left, anyways. She dumped her bookbag on the ground and stepped into the sticky-sweet grass.

Stella had never liked going into the woods after dark. Now, with a loud thunk - thunk - thunk and a pained whimper just ahead of her, she pushes through the brush.

Thirty feet through the trees was nothing like thirty feet anywhere else. The roots made the ground uneven under her tennis shoes and she could hardly keep her balance, but she was trying. The sky overhead was finally caving in with its rain clouds, dark and heavy. Without even moonlight to crack through the trees, the ruddy evening light was doing almost nothing for visibility.

But…

She needed to get to that animal.

One of her hands goes through a spiderweb and she yelps, furiously wiping it on her jeans.

The noises pause.

Shit.

She stoops down to snatch up a large rock and shoved herself through the brush. Sticks caught her hair and stabbed through the thin fabric of her gym shirt, but it didn’t stop her.

Stella shoved her way into the clearing, heart pounding. Perhaps a large puddle had dried up and blocked the onslaught of wild blackberry thistles and ferns and azaleas, maybe it had just been forgotten by the sun and the wildlife.

On one side was a fox with a sleek coat, lips pulled back from its teeth in a snarl, blood dripping from the gashes over its eye and the flank facing her.

The person across the clearing was… less easy to describe.

He didn’t look like anything she’d seen before. His skin was dark and smooth, and he was wearing an outfit that was about the same color, hugging his skin so that she couldn’t tell where he ended and the clothing began. And there was a long white ponytail, curling over the man’s back as he kept still, a bow and arrow trained on the wounded animal. And sitting atop those shoulders was a snarling animal’s head. Maybe a hyena.

Maybe a dog.

Maybe just a hallucination.

She twists and throws the rock at him, full force.

He staggers back.

She stoops down and scoops the fox up.

She turns.

She runs for her life.

Stella was halfway home before she realized she’d forgotten her backpack, and crawling through her window before she decided to just get the damn thing in the morning.

The rational part of her had skipped many things, during the ten minutes of feet pounding pavement and heavy breathing, eyes wide, animal clutched to her chest and blood smeared on her gym shirt.

She’d absolutely forgotten the “no wild animals in her room” rule. In addition to that, the “holy shit, what was that?” was also a fleeting thought.

Finally, the “you SERIOUSLY ditched your backpack back there?” crossed get mind.

However, if it was a zombie apocalypse or something equally crazy, she wouldn’t have to worry about homework.

She sank to the floor under her window and let the fox limp out of her lap, resting her head against the wall.

What was her life…

A crack of thunder startled her. By the time she regained her breath completely, fat raindrops were splattering on the bushes outside her room and the roof. The air smelled crisp and cool, just before the swell of humidity would stifle her again.

She sighed.

Her head was still foggy from the smoke. She was lucky she’d been able to run at all, given how disoriented she felt.

She shifted so that she was laying down on her carpet, watching him.

The fox had settled down a few feet away, lapping at his wound with a pink tongue. He was brilliant, with a rusty coat and darker tips on his ears and paws, white streaks around his muzzle and eyes and at the tips of his tails.

Tails.

Her fingers, still shaking, trace over the ends of his tails.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

“I bet you don’t have any problems…” She mumbled.

Between licks, he responded:

“You’d be surprised.”


End file.
